Labor is renewing its push to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court to test his eligibility for parliament, as a Senate committee prepares to publish a report into his use of ministerial powers in granting visas to European au pairs.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said sending the home affairs minister to court over a potential conflict of interest posed by his stake in two publicly-funded childcare centres was "the most sensible course of action".
Mr Shorten said everybody from Malcolm Turnbull to Julie Bishop to the solicitor-general acknowledged there was an arguable case against Mr Dutton.
"There is a cloud of constitutional eligibility hanging over the minister's head," Mr Shorten said in Canberra on Wednesday.
"We need government MPs to just consider: do they want to be part of a government which is relying upon a minister who does have a legitimate cloud over his eligibility in the parliament?"
Meanwhile, a Senate inquiry is due to release a report into Mr Dutton's personal interventions in granting visas to two au pairs.
The inquiry held only one public hearing and received 10 written submissions, as well as explosive evidence from former Australian Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg and information from the Department of Home Affairs.
Mr Dutton says he did not grant a visa to anyone employed by him or his wife and did not have any personal connection with the people involved in the two matters.
In his first intervention of its kind as minister, Mr Dutton used his powers to grant a tourist visa on June 17, 2015, to a woman detained at Brisbane airport after his office received an email request from his former Queensland Police Service colleague Russell Keag.
Mr Quaedvlieg said in his evidence he had been told the request, granted by the minister within hours, came from "the boss' mate in Brisbane".
Mr Dutton said it could not be reasonably concluded his professional association through working in QPS 20 years ago "constituted either a personal connection or relationship".
He also disputed the dates given by Mr Quaedvlieg, who later clarified his evidence.
In November 2015, the minister also intervened to allow the entry into Australia of another au pair after an appeal was made on her behalf by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan to the minister's office.
The visa was granted just nine hours after the request was made.
Mr Dutton said he made the "common sense" decision based on the merits of the case not his knowledge of the person who requested it.
The Australian Greens could use the report as the basis for a no confidence motion in the minister on Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
